Davey on Ice
by 1monster2
Summary: It's a hot summer's day in August, and Davey is feeling the burn. What happens if he feels...a different sort of burn? A cold one? Will the newsies find him in time to save him from a freezing fate?
**A/N: Hello, all! I know I usually post the one-shots** _ **after**_ **the multi-chapters are done, but I couldn't resist with this one. I came up with the idea that something was going to happen to Davey last night, when I published my last WJC chapter, and then got the idea for this story during Philosophy. I have that class in Travis-Lovitt 114, and that room is utterly** _ **freezing**_ **. During class, I was sitting there, thinking, "This classroom is an ice box!" Not even a second later, my brain decided, "Ice box, Davey, go." So…this story includes Davey and an icebox! You'll see how they all fit in later…**

 **Also, I'll talk about this more in depth in Chapter 12 of WJC, but…OHMIGOSH I SAW NEWSIES LAST NIGHT AND IT WAS THE MOST BRILLIANT THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE AND THEN GARRETT HAWE AND I CARRIED ON A CONVERSATION ON TWITTER!**

 **DISCLAIMER I DON'T OWN NEWSIES AND NEVER WILL I JUST LIKE WHUMPING EVERONE! ;)**

 **REFERENCE ALERT! (to one of my "Core Three"s stories…they'll recognize it. ;) Look at the names of the Newsies, and you'll see it. Also to one of my favorite lines from the show…and also to "** _ **Rich Man's Newsie**_ **", my last major multi-chapter.)**

 **Please enjoy "** _ **Davey on Ice**_ **"!**

It was a rather hot day in August. With the humidity, the temperature was around 100 degrees Farenheight. Davey sighed, wiping his face with his sleeve. He was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and long pants (which the newsies had to wear while selling), and he felt like he was about to keel over from how hot it was. He could tell that it was affecting some of the other newsies as well, but he seemed to be the only one who looked like he was about to faint.

"'Ey, Davey-take a break!" The younger boy jumped at Race's call. "Ya haven' sat down in almost four hours!" Davey rolled his eyes, turning to face his older brother, who was eying him from a corner to his right. "I'm all right, Race. I haven't been out here that long, and I feel fine."

"No, ya don'. I can see ya swayin' were ya stand, an' ya's blinkin' up a storm. Go sit down, 'fore I set Jack on ya." Davey was a part of the "Core Four", it was true, but Race outranked him, due to being the second-in-command. If Race gave an order, even Davey had to obey him-even if he didn't like it or want to. The advisor sighed, before nodding and sitting down in the shade of a nearby windowsill. The shade did feel nice, and Davey let out a contented hum.

"See-I told ya."

"Oh, shut up."

The rest of the day passed the same way-Davey and Race selling on nearby corners, and Race keeping a close eye on his younger brother. Some newsies felt the heat more than others, Race knew, and he didn't want anything to happen to them. If he had to bodily shove them into the shade to get them to rest, that's what he would do. The only one close to him was Davey, and so he made sure to order the boy to get out of the heat more often than not. Thankfully, the Lodging House (by nature of facing the east) was usually rather cool by the time they got back in the evening, and it would feel a lot better to the afflicted newsies. According to Les and Snitch, Juliet, Finch, and Elmer were already having tough times with the heat, and Albert and Henry weren't too far behind. Jack had ended up sending Knobs home early, as the young boy had fully succumbed to the heat and began to throw up in the bushes. By the time dinner came around, there weren't really people walking around in Manhattan. Therefore, the newsies closed up shop and headed for the distribution center, in order to sell back the few papers they hadn't sold. Davey began to follow them, but suddenly stopped. Someone was standing in front of him that he knew well.

 _Very well._

"Matt…what are you going here?" the advisor asked nervously. He began to back up, but stopped as he ran into someone else behind him. He looked up to see another man standing there, smirking down at him. "Oh come now, little cousin…can't we just come out to say hello?"

"Not after what you did, no." Davey growled, trying to get away. His cousin held fast, however, and he couldn't move at all. Matt stalked up towards him, chuckling nastily. "You could at least be polite, little cousin. We've been in contact with the League of Gentleman-"

"Those _bastards-_ "

"And we've seen all of the news about you. You've become too big for your britches, David, and our family does not like it. Not at all."

"So suddenly because I've become a little bit popular, the rest of our family becomes jealous?"

" _Our family_ wants you and your poor, _poor_ family to remember your place in the world-which is completely below us. You seem to need to be reminded of that…and since we have _some_ morals, we will not go after little Les…which means that we shall teach that lesson to you instead."

"You can't do anything to me-my brothers will come for me, and then they'll come after you."

"Oh-you mean those foolish newsies you claim to help lead? They won't know what has happened to you." Surprise showed on Davey's face for a brief second, before Matt punched him across the face and then kicked him in the stomach. Davey fell back against his other cousin-Arthur-not fully unconscious, but pretty close. Matt and Arthur then dragged him off to the back of Jacobi's Deli, where a large, empty ice box was. It was an extra storage box, in case the first one somehow ran out of room. Matt lifted the lid, before they tossed Davey in and closed the lid, locking it afterwards. Both boys let out a nasty laugh. "Have fun in solitary confinement, little cousin." Arthur sneered. "Those newsies will never find you again."

By the time evening fell, every newsie was back in the Lodging House, joking around with the others. Knobs was still sick, but Finch had joined him by the end of the day, and they were sleeping it off in their beds while the others were down in the Living Room. Juliet and Elmer were sitting off to the sides, still trying to stay as cool as possible. Jack and Crutchie were talking to each other while watching the others, and Race was running around doing…something. No one was really sure.

Suddenly, Les ran down the stairs. "Has anyone seen Davey?" he cried. "I can't find him anywhere!" His brothers and sister stopped and looked over at him, not too concerned about it. "Were all did ya look for him?" Crutchie called back.

"I looked everywhere, and he's not anywhere in the Lodging House!"

Jack sighed. He was a bit nervous, as his advisor never stayed out any longer than he had to after selling. Davey always came back within twenty minutes of selling back his papers, as he liked having some time to himself at the end of the day, after having to deal with the entirety of Manhattan. It was now a full two hours after the rest of the newsies had returned. "Romeo, Sniper, Mush-go an' help Les look for Davey. Iffn' ya cain't find him, den we'll…do sumthin' else." The older teens nodded, and headed up the stairs with Les. It took about twenty minutes, but they finally came back down the stairs, shaking their heads. "He ain't anywere in here, Jack. We looked everywere, and dere's no sign a him." Sniper announced. The other "Core Four" members looked at each other concernedly. If Davey wasn't back by now…

Something had to have happened.

Something bad.

"Alright, y'all-we's gonna git out dere an' look for Davey. Iffn' ya find 'im, bring 'im back here and let da rest a us know. Iffn' we cain't find him in a few hours, we'll regroup, an' go out tomorrow, alright?" Race commanded. The other newsies nodded, and immediately began to stream out of the Lodging House. Jack forced Knobs and Finch to stay in their beds. "Da two a ya is sick, an' goin' out is jus' gonna make it worse. Ya two stay here, alright?" The two sick newsies groaned, but nodded, not really in the mood to protest. Jack nodded, before turning towards Juliet and Elmer. "Ya can come with us, but ya gotta come back here iffn' ya git too sick." Both of the newsies nodded, rising to their feet and following their brothers.

The newsies stayed out looking for almost two hours, looking all over Manhattan, but none of them could find him. If Jack, Race, and Crutchie had been nervous before, they were extremely worried now. Davey knew Manhattan like the back of his hand. He wouldn't be this late-ever. Or if he was going to be doing something this late, he would have let one of his brothers know, so that they could tell Jack. The three leaders had just about decided to give up the search and begin again in the morning when they heard a thud and a sharp cry. They rounded the corner to their left to see two grown men towering over Les, who-it appeared-they had just shoved to the ground. His three older brothers immediately ran over and stood in between the three, Crutchie helping Les to his feet.

"Wat's goin' on, Les?" Crutchie queried. "Ya know dese two?"

"Yeah, I know them..." the younger boy replied, "they're my cousins. And it can't be a coincidence that Davey goes missing on the very night that they show up. They have to know where he is!"

"Easy there, little pipsqueak-we have no idea where your brother is. You don't honestly think that we would ever enter Manhattan to indulge in conversation with those family members of ours beneath our social status, do you?" Matt rolled his eyes. "If David is lost, it's because he got lost-we had nothing to do with it."

"Yeah-I'm sure he's _chilling out_ somewhere." Arthur cackled, before stopping at Matt's harsh glare. "What? It's not like I-" Matt grabbed his arm, yanking his brother away before he could finish his sentence. "We'll be going now. If you do find David, give him a kick up the butt for us."

"Why do people like dat talk?" Race queried, rolling his eyes. Jack chuckled for a moment, slapping him on the back. "So dat people know dat dey're alive!" he joked. All of a sudden, Les let out a gasp. "I knew they had something to do with Davey going missing-I knew it!"

"How do ya know, kiddo?"

"What my cousin Arthur said-that he's "chilling out" somewhere. He must have known that Davey was really hot earlier…and that Davey told me that he was looking forward to "chilling out" in the Lodging House once we were done selling."

"So he overheard ya two?"

"That's the only reason I can think of for him using those exact words." Suddenly, Crutchie froze, an expression of horror on his face as he turned to the others. "Wait a minute…didn' Jacobi say dat he got a new icebox last week? For storage, incase his othar one fills up?" There was a moment of silence between the four, before they all dashed (or hobbled) as fast as they could to Jacobi's shop. In the back, they found the two iceboxes, and Race immediately whistled. "Ovar here-dis lock's new. As in, it jus' got put on." The others crowded around, and Jack knocked loudly on the top. "Davey? Ya in dere?" he called, stepping back in shock and anger a second later as two weak thumps were heard, coming from the end closest to Les. Jack then turned to Race. "Can ya git it open?" he queried. His lieutenant nodded grimly, already trying to pry the lock off. It took almost ten minutes of finagling, but he finally unlocked the icebox and lifted the lid. A distinct chill rose through the air, followed by a layer of steam-and then the horrified gasps of four newsies.

" _Davey!_ "

The newsie in question was curled up on his side, barely shivering in the intense cold. The others could see the bruises left on his face from Matt's fist, and could see that parts of him-particularly his fingers-were growing blue. Les stepped back in terror, not able to continue looking at his brother like that. Crutchie noticed, and immediately turned to him. "Les-go back ta da Lodging House, _now_. Git all the blankets we can spare an' put dem on a bed in da Soakin' Room. Grab any othar newsie ya find on da way back an' git dem ta start a fire in da fireplace-we's gonna need ta be able ta warm Davey up fast. Den, go an' ring da bell ta bring all da othars back to da house. Can ya do dat?" Les nodded, scampering off instantly. With the younger boy gone, Jack and Race gently lifted Davey out of the icebox. "Holy crap-he's freezin', Jack!" Race muttered. Jack nodded concernedly. "Yeah, he is…we jus' gotta git him home an' warmed up, an' he'll be fine soon 'nough."

Just then, Jacobi dawdled out from inside his shop, stopping short at the sight of the young boy. "Oh dear…what happened to him?"

"He got dropped in one a you's iceboxes by a couple a his cousins and left dere for four hours." Jack growled, moving to hold Davey-who was just starting to come to-a bit more protectively. "We gotta git him back ta da Lodging House- _NOW._ " Race and Crutchie nodded, and the three started back for the Lodging House-Jack and Race carrying Davey between them, while Crutchie hobbled along beside them. As they moved, they heard the Lodging House bell ringing, and they all breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Les was doing exactly as Crutchie had told him to. The sound of the bell seemed to awaken Davey even more, as he began to blink his eyes rapidly, suddenly trying to walk on his own, which almost caused Jack and Race to fall over. "Easy, Davey-relax!" Race cried, trying to balance himself. "We's jus' helpin' ya git back ta da Lodging House. Ya's bin missin' for a lon' time."

"Where…was…I…?" Davey's voice sounded like broken glass, and all three of his brothers winced. For a while, no one answered him, but finally Jack cleared his throat. "Well, uh…ya was stuck in an icebox for 'bout four hours. Ya may not feel like it, but ya is freezin' cold, an' we need ta git ya back ta da Lodging House an' warm ya up dere. Alright?" Davey nodded, the energy needed to hold his head up and speak apparently too much for him, as his head quickly drooped back down. Jack and Race exchanged glances over top of him, before moving even faster towards home.

Finally, they arrived back at the Lodging House. The door was already open for them, and they could feel the warmth coming from inside. As they walked up, Les poked his head out the door, and then gasped. "Davey-you're okay!" he cried, running up to embrace his brother. Davey let out a soft grunt as he did so, as Les had just-unknowingly-slammed into the sore part of his stomach, from where Matt had kicked him. He immediately curled in on himself a bit, and Les stepped back fearfully. "Did I…did I hurt you?" he queried, not able to look his older brother in the eye.

"No, you didn't…it's just a bit…sore…" Davey wheezed. Jack cleared his throat again, smiling gently down at the younger boy. "Don' worry, Les, ya didn' hurt him…but we gotta git him inside, alright?" Les quickly nodded, moving aside so that the boys could get through. Once they entered the Soaking Room, they laid the younger boy on the bed nearest the fire, and then covered him up with the blankets that Les had procured. "Now we jus' gotta wait." Crutchie murmured to Les, who was standing next to him, watching everything that was going on. "Once he starts tremblin' and shiverin', ya know he's startin' ta warm up." He then took a look at the boys surrounding them and asked, "Were are da othars?"

"Ya mean Knobs, Finch, Juliet, Elmer, Albert, an' Henry?" Buttons responded. "Dey's still tryin' ta cool down, so dey's hidin' out in da dormitories were it's cooler, so da heat in here dosen' bother dem none." Jack nodded, grateful that someone had been monitoring their sick siblings while the others were away. "Crutch, can ya go check on dem, an' make sure dey's doin' all right?" Crutchie nodded, slowly leaving the room. "Da rest a ya, ya can stay up for a while, jus' _be quiet_. Race an' I is gonna hang out here with Davey for a while, an' if any of you's is in da Living Room when we come out…" The other newsies nodded, before filing out of the room. Jack and Race then turned back to the freezing newsie, who was beginning to feel a painful tingling in his body (which meant that he was beginning to warm up). "Davey-wat happened? Why did dose guys throw ya inta an icebox for four hours?" Race queried. The younger teen refused to answer for a little while, but neither of his brothers moved, simply staring at him, waiting for him to respond. Finally, he sighed. "Dey's my cousins, on my mom's side." Jack and Race-and Crutchie, who had just walked back in-grinned at each other. Apparently, when Davey was extremely cold and tired, his syntax degraded somewhat from "rich-man speak" to "newsie-speak"-and he didn't even seem to realize it. "That side of the family, dey…dey's very rich, an' really acts like it. Dey try ta stay away from us as much as possible, cause we's poor and dey's not. If dey have to interact with us, dey will, but it's like…it's like how every rich guy acts 'round y'all."

"Stuck up an' arrogant." Crutchie muttered. Davey shook his head, blinking rather rapidly-and then wincing in pain-as he did so. "Yeah. An' a while back, my mom was in a tough spot, an' needed some help. Our cousins an' dere parents _said_ dat dey would help, but dey ended up takin' all da cash dat dey were gonna give us ta help Mom, an' used it to take a vacation somewhere." Now Jack _knew_ that Davey was out of it, as he slipped further into the newsie accent the longer he talked. The older boy was trying to stifle a chuckle about it, when he stopped, thinking about what Davey had just shared.

" _Dere mom needed help…an' instead a helpin' 'em, dey took da money an' went on a vacation. No wonder Davey's family's got such a humble attitude 'bout bein' poor-dey haveta deal with folks like_ _ **dat**_ _._

 _Well, not anymore._

 _Now, it's_ _ **our turn**_ _ta deal with dem."_

It took Davey a few days to recover from being shut in the icebox for four hours, and he was still quite sore a week later, when he returned to selling. He hung out with Crutchie for a while until he was strong enough to sell on his own again. In all honesty, though, he was just glad to be back out with his brothers hawking the papers.

And if he heard the rumors about two men named Matt and Arthur Miller being run out of town by a large group of Manhattan newsies, well…

That was just the icing on the cake.

 _ **A/N: Well…I really enjoyed this story! Sorry if the ending is kinda crappy…I've got a crap-ton of homework to do, and after working on this story for six hours, I needed to finish it up and start on that huge pile of stuff. Ugh…#ILoveCollegeButIHateHomework #CanItJustBeSummerVacationAlready … ;) Haha…at least there's only about 2 ½ weeks left, and then I just have to survive dress week/show run of Honk…and then I'm home free! YEAH!**_ __ _ **Oh-and did anyone else besides me enjoy the part when Davey started slipping into "newsie-speak" near the end? I figured he wouldn't be completely aware of what he was saying, and that's what he hears most often nowadays, so…**_ __ _ **I thought it was a cute section, but IDK…let me know what you guys think!**_

 _ **Well, I hope you enjoyed the story, and I'll see you all later!**_

 _ **God bless,**_

 _ **1monster2**_


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